Day 17 - The Turtle

Castelvecchio

Statue of Juliet

In front of the Arena

We woke up this morning to breakfast in the hostel. Then we packed up our stuff. We checked out and headed back to the train station to store our stuff for the day. We found all our train info for the evening train and headed into the centre to see Castelvecchio. It was pretty nice but I prefer seeing the history and architecture than religious art. On the way to Casa di Giulietta we stopped for gelato. I found that it was thicker than in Vienna and it melted faster, more like ice cream. But my flavours were so good (melon, lemon and passion fruit). Casa di Giulietta was actually pretty cool. There were all the letters to Juliet, and they did the house up as it could’ve been in the time of Romeo and Juliet. There were some very cool frescoes, and it really was very pretty. And of course I wrote a letter to Juliet, because, you can’t go there and not write a letter; that would be silly, and such a waste. Now she’ll answer, but I hope not till I get home. We also stopped at the Arena. It was fairly boring, I think it would be more interesting when one of the operas is on. I’m a little sad that we missed the next one. It will be on the 8th, and it will be Carmen, which I really want to see. Maybe I’ll have to rent it. On our way out, we got pictures with the gladiators; that was interesting. I’ve decided that it would be a funny job. The girls looked like Zena Warrior Princess. I could totally do that. I should be her for Hallowe’en. The last thing we did was go and see Juliet’s tomb. They had many nice frescoes and well kept statues. The garden was beautiful. It was one of the nicest museums I’ve seen. Then we had to hurry and get something to eat before getting on our train to Riomaggiore. We were worried McDonald’s was going to be our only choice, but we ended up at a small cafe in the station instead. I had a probably not great panino, but I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so I was so hungry. I forgot to mention that last night I found a book of poetry in our room. Someone had cut out their favourites and left it behind. Now I’m looking for my favourite. I already found two I like. Then we missed our stop. landed in Monterosso al Mare. Easy fix, we took the train back a station. Now in Riomaggiore, we couldn’t get a room. I lost my snacks, which isn’t the end of the world, but it does make me grumpy. So we got on a train going to La Spezia and the conductor gave us a fine for something about the dates which was obvious to him but not us. But he only fined us half, so 50 euros. Then off in La Spezia, we couldn’t find a map and everything is closed. But we could see a 3 star hotel from the train station. It cost us 110 euros, but we are safe, clean and breakfast is included, and we’ll be in Rome tomorrow. Unless Suzanne from Australia is right and there could be a train strike tomorrow, then we may end up staying in La Spezia. We’ll see. We also met two guys from California, who totally took the last two beds in Riomaggiore. They were so not gentlemen. It’ll get better tomorrow and it’s really not that bad anyways. I also realized that I lost my toothbrush and toothpaste. So we need to find a pharmacy in the morning. But, as Dominique just pointed out, “At least there’s real pillows.” Haha, because the pillows at the hostel last night were like thick foamy cardboard, it was funny. And our hotel room has a bidet. Weird. It was a good day on the train anyways. Dom and I were so tired we were laughing about the lamest things. It was actually a pretty funny day. She says she might switch to Laurier after a year off. It would be cool to see her more often, it’s been fun so far! There are two songs about me. One by the Monkees and one by Amy Winehouse. Suzanne from Australia told us we were  lucky to have such small packs.She has two; she’s been backpacking for three years. We also met some American women who were shocked that our whole lives could fit on our backs. We said yea, but I after meeting Suzanne I realized that wasn’t true. I still have a home and family and friends elsewhere, not like Suzanne. I’m not a turtle. Suzanne the turtle...from Australia.